Crime does not respect national borders. Organised criminals are increasingly more sophisticated and regularly use EU-wide or international networks to carry out their activities. Faced with this reality, EU governments are aware that they cannot effectively tackle international organised crime by relying solely on national law enforcement agencies. At the heart of the European fight against organised crime is better and closer co-operation between the national law enforcement agencies and, in particular, between the national police services. In Vienna, in December 1998, the European Council agreed an action plan on how best to make the Union an area of freedom, security and justice for its citizens. The Tampere European Council took this further in October 1999 by deciding on a comprehensive approach to reinforce the fight against serious organised crime.